’Send in the navy!’ MPs demands help in migrant cross-Channel crisis

BORDER Force vessels must be brought back from the Mediterranean to help tackle the escalating crisis in the England Channel an MP has demanded, as Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared the situation a “major incident”.

And other MPs have gone even further, suggesting the Navy needed to be drafted in to deal with the situation. Government immigration minister Caroline Nokes is visiting the port of Dover today (Saturday), where she will be joined by Tory MP for the town Charlie Elphicke, who has called for more patrol boats in the Channel to tackle trafficking gangs – as well a calling for the French authorities to up their game. But the Immigration Services Union, which represents border force officials, has warned their efforts are being undermined by “woefully inadequate” resources.

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Mr Javid has asked for an urgent call with his French counterpart to address the problem following a Christmas period which has seen a spate of attempts by migrants to cross to the UK by boat.

After two boats carrying 12 men from Syria and Iran were intercepted while they attempted to make the crossing on Friday, Mr Javid also appointed a "gold commander" to oversee the situation and give daily updates.

He has also held a conference call with officials in the Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the National Crime Agency (NCA) – where he was briefed on the latest intelligence and action being taken.

Mr Javid has also asked the Border Force to provide information on whether more vessels will act as a deterrent or encourage more people to make the crossing.

Yesterday (Friday), Border Force officials brought the 12 men to shore at Dover and handed them over to immigration officials to be interviewed.

Caroline Nokes in Dover today (Image: PA)

An inflatable boat, carrying one Syrian and three Iranians, was reported to the Coastguard at about 3am.

And at about 9am a second boat, which was carrying eight Iranians, was also spotted.

On Christmas Day, more than 40 migrants tried to cross the sea and enter the UK.

Boxing Day saw three more migrants intercepted in a small boat, and on Thursday an inflatable boat carrying nine people was rescued by a lifeboat crew three miles off the coast of Sandgate in Kent.

Ms Nokes and Mr Elphicke will discuss the situation with Border Force officers in Dover. Mr Javid has indicated a Border Force vessel currently deployed in the Mediterranean could be brought back to help tackle the problem.

Sajid Javid has declared the situation a "major incident" (Image: PA)

We should be bringing our Border Force vessels back from the Mediterranean

Charlie Elphicke MP

Mr Elphicke said: "Now we need a clear strategy to defeat the traffickers. We should be bringing our Border Force vessels back from the Mediterranean.”

"Border Force officials are trained to protect borders rather more than the Royal Navy. The Navy are very important and very good, but they do other things and border protection is not their key thing."

He called on the French authorities to "match the Home Secretary's determination" by stepping up action on their side of the English Channel to stop trafficking networks and prevent people attempting dangerous crossings.

Independent MP and Commons Home Affairs Committee member John Woodcock disagreed, telling told The Sun: "The public is losing confidence in the struggling Border Force. It's time to stop the rot by sending in the Royal Navy.”

He warned the Navy was needed to stop the situation developing into a “catastrophe”.

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A Border Force vessel could be called back from the Mediterranean (Image: PA)

Tory MP and fellow committee member Tory Mr Loughton went event further, telling the newspaper: "There is a serious security implication, as this is a likely route undesirables who have been fighting in Syria will use if they want to return to the UK.”

He said there was “now a case” for the Royal Navy to be brought in to protect the UK border in the Channel.

Ingrid Parrot, spokeswoman for the French Maritime Prefecture for the English Channel, said the number of illicit crossings in small boats had increased from 23 in 2016 and 13 in 2017 to 70 this year, the majority of them after the end of October.

Ms Parrot told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Before 2018, we didn't have smugglers. But now we have smugglers on the French coast and it is really a network.

"Before that it was not a network, it was individual migrants who were trying to cross. Now it's a network, a criminal organisation."

Migrants pictured trying to cross the channel in a canoe in August (Image: GETTY)

Ms Parrot said smugglers were using the prospect of Brexit as a way to try to encourage migrants to attempt the perilous crossing before the impending change in UK relations with the EU.

Lucy Moreton, a spokeswoman for the Immigration Services Union, said Border Force staff felt they do not have the resources needed to deal with the problem.

She told Today: "We do only have two cutters – that's woefully inadequate, but we can't just walk into a big ship shop and buy another one."

"The cutters that we've got – the youngest is 14 years old – we do need new ones but they will take time to build."